November 30, 1782 an agreement was reached in Paris between the independent United States and Britain. The peace treaty recognized the boundaries of the 13 Colonies as a new nation. The United States took control of the vast "Lower Canada," which was also known as the Northwest Territory. September 3, 1783, the formal Treaty of Paris was signed which ended all hostilities. Now that this Northwest Territory was secure, America was given room for expansion. Many of the states then gave land grants to soldiers for their service in the War of Independence. "Some 700,000 acres of land was set aside as "Donation Lands" given to Pennsylvania soldiers. This arrangement was convenient because the government was short of cash and it also encouraged settlement in the new area. Numerous land tracts were the property of the American Population Company. One million four hundred thousand acres became the property of the Pennsylvania Population Company and the Holland land company. The Holland Land Company was formed by a group of Dutch bankers in 1792. These companies bought land in New York, Pennsylvania and elsewhere in North America at low prices and sold it to the pioneers at a profit."

 

Now that the Northwest Territory was secure this gave America room for expansion and our ancestors took advantage of a good opportunity. They were opportunists. As late as 1815 Mead Township, Crawford County Pennsylvania showed little sign of settlement, but shortly thereafter large numbers of the unclaimed Donation Tracts of land were sold by the county commissioners for delinquent taxes. Word soon spread across the country that land was available in the northern and eastern sections of Mead Township and could be purchased by anybody who would pay the taxes owed to the State. It was at this time Jacob Guy, Melanchthon Wheeler, and Troop Barney, all residents of Whitehall, Washington County New York organized a company and purchased a large quantity of the donation land. The population of the country was moving and settling in unbroken wilderness.

 

Jacob Guy, a native of Concord, New Hampshire and former student of Whitehall New York Academy, Yale College, and graduate of Dartmouth College moved from Whitehall, New York and migrated around 1813 to Crawford County, Meadville, PA. He then purchased several Donation District Tracts of land from the county commissioners at a tax sale for delinquent taxes.

 

At one time he reportedly owned as much as ten thousand acres. His property comprised nearly half of what is now known as Randolph Township. He constantly bought and sold land to incoming settlers. Jacob Guy lived in Meadville, PA for two years before migrating to Mead Township, now Randolph Township, in 1815. Another new company made up of Ward Barney, George Barney, and William A Moore, also of Washington County, New York, made large investments in these tax titles and sold their claims to incoming settlers.

 

The northern and southeastern parts of Mead Township were Donation Lands, while the southwestern corner was the property of the Holland Land Company. The first settlers of the region settled the land owned by the Holland Land Company. It was required of a settler to reside on the property and make improvements on each tract. The company offered a gratuity of one hundred additional acres to each one fulfilling the terms of settlement, in order to place an occupant on each tract at the earliest possible date. Many of the pioneers coming into the county gladly availed themselves of this opportunity to secure land on which to settle.

 

A large number of the settlers who purchased the Donation Lands came mainly from Whitehall, Washington County, New York, including sections of Whitehall, Fort Ann, Granville, and the area of Rutland, Vermont. It was well into the middle of the 1800s, before Mead Township, now Randolph Township, was nicely settled. The period of 1820-1830 Randolph saw its greatest population growth.

 

Randolph Township is an interior township and was formed in 1824. It is situated a little southeast of the center of Crawford County and contains 23,697 square acres. The lay of the land is hilly and drained by two creeks. The creek flowing north into Richmond Township is called Woodcock Creek and the creek flowing south into Wayne Township is called Sugar Creek. Randolph is bordered on the North by Richmond Township on the East by Steuben and Troy, on the South by Wayne, and on the West by East-Mead.

 

The incoming settlers were able to provide meat for their families as wild game was abundant in the area. Honey Bees and trees laden with honey were a common sight.

The Alexander and Joseph Johnson families were the first pioneers to settle in the area. They settled in 1797. The second pioneers to settle here were James and John Brawley. The area is known today as Brawley’s Stand and is located two miles southwest of Guys Mills.

 

In 1815 Jacob Guy selected a choice creek bank located between two steep hills and made the first settlement in what was to become Guys Mills. The whole area was unbroken wilderness. At the time he cleared enough trees to construct a temporary dwelling of basswood poles and hemlock brush. As one views the lay of the land and the tiny creek which runs through Guys Mills today it is easy to see how the exact location was chosen. In the valley lies a large level area which would have made a great basin for a hugh mill pond. Precisely at the location of the present road the valley narrows between two hills and thus forms a natural partial dam. The fact that the large flat area was funneled down between these two hills is the reason Guys Mills was built at this specific location.

 

When Jacob Guy moved to Guys Mills the township showed few signs of habitation except the dozen or so little clearings made by the settlers who preceded him. An act of legislature on March 3, 1817 authorized a state road to be cut from Meadville to the New York State line. Commissioners were appointed by the state to lay out a road fifty feet wide, beginning on the New York line, at the northern boundary of Warren County, and running to Meadville. The road was to be surveyed between April and November of 1817, and $3000.00 was appropriated by the state for opening and clearing the same from Meadville to the New York state line. This road takes an almost direct straight line northeast from Meadville, passing through Blooming Valley, New Richmond, Little Cooley and Riceville, leaving Crawford County near the northeast corner of Sparta Township, seldom deviating or avoiding hill or dale. It is said that of the Commissioners James Miles, John Brooks and Maj. McGrady, one was interested in lands north, and another in lands south of a direct line. When one would suggest turning a hill on the north the other would object, and vice versa, so that selfishness was really the cause of this road being laid out up hill and down dale, to the inconvenience of future generations. The state road remained almost impassable for some years, and in 1826 work was still in progress upon it. It was not until the country was well settled and it began to be improved by the townships through which it passed, that it could be regarded as in fair condition." This road today is route 77. This main thoroughfare ran through New Richmond and is approximately four miles from where our 1780 Isaac Childs settled. The grist mill/saw mill erected by Jacob Guy in 1816 or 1817 was the first frame building in the village. It was this mill that was credited with naming the town. The creek-bank village was possibly known as "Guy’s Mill" which later evolved to the more familiar version, "Guys Mills." My husband likes to suggest that another possible explanation is that Guy’s Mills indicates two mills. It appears the mill was two mills in one. A Grist mill perhaps located on the second floor and a Saw mill on the first. My husband Norman draws his theory from the fact in the diary of Jacob Guys 1818 and 1819, he tells of grinding grain and sawing boards in the same account. All towns needed a grist mill and a saw mill which could be powered by the same water supply.